Im reading comments while listening to this talk. lol. I can't stay focused enough to watch her but Im hearing her and writing this. I find procrastination is my worst ADHD symptom along with distraction .
I so appreciate how she is able to reframe what society demonizes about us and instead shows how indeed, ADHDers have tremendous value to offer. We're just misunderstoond and not given the type of education and treatment that's right for us. It can be so isolating and demeaning to constantly be told by people you're a lazy slob that can't get it together. Maybe that's true for me on the one hand, but on the other, I devoted my life to traveling all over the world and learning as much as I could from the people I met, as well as being the best mother I can be to my daughter. Maybe I don't have a ton of money or a traditional job, but I'm fine with that.
I've worked as a music producer, male model, singer, performer, comedian, data analyst, programmer, salesman, travel agent, barista, bartender, and I was really good in all of them. I was only fired once because I was always late and my boss fired me with tears in his eyes because he didn't want to let me go but the decision had come from upper management, and in all my other jobs they tolerated my lack of punctuality because I was really good at them and I was the one who decided to quit and move on to another thing because I stopped felling comfortable in the environment I was, the job had got unbearably monotonous and boring, or simply I decided to pursue another career path that at that moment interested me more. Furthermore; I'm also an excellent home cook. Yes, we have a lot to offer and we can also be really fun to be around with. At some point in my life I decided that if success comes along it will be very welcome, but I won't destroy my own happiness in order to pursue it. As you said, maybe I don't make a ton of money, but I'm fine with that and I'm glad I had all these different experiences.
I was on a string of ADHD videos when I landed on this one. I made it 5 minutes 8 seconds in before I had a thought about a song and that turned into an insatiable need to listen to music. I've done so probably for about an hour, I'm not too sure because I lost track of time. I'm back now after writing this comment. ADHD is frustrating but sometimes fun.
As a guy with the diagnosis myself, I like this way of thinking about the condition. I'm sure that if more people would think about ADHD like this (seeing the possibilities, not the limits), that the world would be a better place -- and not just for us with the diagnoais, but for "ordinary" people as well. Great talk!
Several studies were done in the 70s and afterwards comparing kids in "open classrooms" (where kids get to move around and have more options for their activities, and are not told to start and stop nearly so often) with "normal classrooms," and "ADHD" diagnosed kids do WAY better in open classrooms. In one study, teachers could not identify the diagnosed kids in an open classroom, but were almost 100% accurate in identifying a matched set of controls in a regular classroom. So put an "ADHD" kid in an open classroom, and they look like any other kid! We did this with our kids, and both are successful adults who graduated with honors from their respective high schools, without a milligram of stimulants ever being administered. This talk is right on target. We're trying to have fish swim the 100 yard dash on land and feeling sorry for them that they're "disabled." Put the fish back in the water and see who wins the race!
Watching this makes me frustrated of all the unispiring people i've met in my life who do not understand this condition and misinterpret it completely. The list just goes on and on and on... :(
I both laugher and cried watching this video. Thank you Dr. Nadeau; you have absolutely no idea how much I needed to hear what you had to say. (16-APR-2020)
I see the positive aspects of having ADHD and I love them. I travelled the world and had great adventures, I am very creative and also have a masters degree. However I literally burned my research for the master thesis by accident, did not pay for internet so they turned it of just 3 days before my thesis was due. I almost burned down my house. And in addition I keep putting myself in very dangerous situations. I counted all the incidents were I almost died, and I had to sort it by country , event and by what. For example almost drowning in India , lost in the jungle in Indonesia, lost in snow on a mountain in Italy, almost getting ra.ed in a forest in Newzealand, kidnapped in Columbia. And I did not escape all of these Incidents unharmed. I have a messy house ... it was ok... until there were mice that I did not recognize until there were many. For me the downside of ADHD was traumatic. Now I take meds and I am relieved.
Excellent talk, very informative. I watched because I think I have it, I am 62 Yrs old. I am definitely Dyslexic, and that is my only gripe - the speed at which your text is taken down. One area that I have not seen any research done in is in "Older people", those for whom "Studying" or "Work" is in the past.
Outgrow it LOL, I'm 55 years old and just diagnosed after a lifetime of struggle to conform, it's not a disability at all, I believe it's actually how we're supposed to be if we could have a truly free lifestyle, with all our own choices not having to be pigeon-holed and conform to what others say, we use both brain hemispheres at the same time ie: using logic with creativity, it's a lot to manage and no wonder we struggle to appear so called normal.
Whyyyy are people always only talking about CHILDREN with adhd like adults have it too I have it too and it's just as bad as other mental illnesses, please please please! don't treat it as if it is a thing only children have
I 100% agree with you on the frusteration with everyone only talking about ADHD in children but ADHD is not a mental illness. Referring to it as a mental illness is scientifically inaccurate and is stigmatizing to ADHD.
Thank you for this video, I never thought of my brain like this until now. Focusing on the positives and trying to work with what you have is much better than always trying to change who you are
I am from Switzerland. I have been to 13 different schools in my life. Believe me, private schools aren‘t better either, at least not in Switzerland, the United Kingdom or even in Spain. Yes, I am speaking from experience. The only thing that ever worked for me was to give me the curriculum and a deadline and to let me do it myself & even then, the motivation it requires to keep believing in such an archaic system and the things which are taught, is simply a pain.
I reached my limit with my son .I have to work all the time just to get by. He runs around like a normal young boy . Never listens to me. I took him to are doctor and after my 15 mins were up he diagnosed my son with ADHD. Got a prescription. Now I make sure he takes his pill everyday. Now he sits on the couch day after day just staring into space. I've never been happier. He very rarely talks Now. Just stares into space. Finally now I can get some rest. His grades dropped off a bit. That's OK. At least he does what I tell him now.
Please, tell us more! Your presentation was informative and even comforting. Also, do you have links to the positive studies? Your forgetting the books had me laughing. Thank you, again!
But I love her Attention Surplus "Disorder" -- it puts things in order for me. OK! she says this is the orderly side of our minds, the other is the creative (adventuresome to me) side. Cool!!
yes.. I've written books.. and many poems.. and composed and recorded much music.. and reams of ideas i've never heard ay body else even talk about.. there all on my computer..... some where... i think.. ????
now I don't know but maybe the hikikomori of Japan or the recluse who doesn't want to go with the crowd are actually adhd people, not maybe the hyperactive but the inattentive or mixed type. Personally, I got diagnosed as a 20-year-old but I was told that if I knew it earlier then I could've managed stuff that it didn't offshoot into anxiety and depression. I was kind of laughing at myself like what's the issue, I didn't even know that I have anxiety but the symptoms of depression yeah because of living going with the crowd, achieve this achieve that in this age know this and that already but I couldn't keep up. So looking back, maybe if the Japanese can see that their cultures are some values that yeah they could live with, with topics of propriety, philosophical or moral stuff but in being a human we just sometimes or very often we are professional failures on what we have set up for ourselves as ideal or heavenly perfection that we strive towards to. And so maybe if Japan can be more adhd friendly then maybe they can tackle their hikikomori issue better
You, like many others who think or have been labeled as ADHD you might actually be and Active-Alert: Here is the test: 1. Does you child have a seemingly endless supply of energy? 2. Can your child attend to a task, like being read to or playing a game with a parent? 3. Does/did your child wake up often throughout the night or have difficulty getting to sleep (often seen as fidgeting) 4. Does/did your child seem to need very little sleep as an infant or toddler? 5. Would the last words from your child’s mouth be, “I am tired”. 6. Does your child seem to “wind up” over the coarse of the day. That is, did their energy seem to build upon itself? 7. Does your child’s memory of details amaze you? 8. Is your child quick and bright in certain areas of learning? 9. Does your child seem to have an unending wealth of “good ideas”. 10. Does it seem as if your child tries to be the “boss” of your family or their friends? 11. Does your child want his/her own way most of the time and have difficulty accepting a “no” answer? 12. Did you miss the terrible twos in your child’s development because you never experienced anything different? 13. In new situations is your child more uncertain or fearful than others? 14. Is your child intensely emotional - very happy and or very sad with little in between? 15. Does your child experience a pattern of moods - from positive to negative and back again that seem hard for him/her to control? I.e. very upset they are unable to accomplish something, will have a tantrum or pout and nothing you say or do seems to help except for distraction) 16. Is it difficult for your child to play alone, especially up to age 6 or 7? (often they will want you as their playmate. 17. Is it difficult for your child to determine how to be a good friend, that is, she/he either sits and watches others or tries to be the boss? 18. Does your child think he/she is just terrific or totally stupid with little ability to believe that they might be just average or ok? A kind of all or nothing attitude. 19. Do other people say they have no difficulties with your child? 20. Do you sometimes wonder if your child has “read your mind? 21. Does your child use logic to reason with you? If you answered YES to a majority of these questions you are probably an Active Alert! Bonus: Ask the professional accessing you or your child to explain what an Active-Alert is. If they can't then they can't possible give you a diagnosis worth paying for!!! facebook.com/groups/ActiveAlert/
why is this only aimed at parents/children?Also hyperactivity can be heavily internalised and kids can seem to have low energy due to overstimulation and still have adhd (:
Sorry, that view is rather the opposite of the majority of ADHD people. Most have college reading levels by 4-5th grade. You may be thinking of Dyslexia.
@@TheSpicehandler Differing brain scans between people does not prove the existence of ADHD. Only an objective falsifiable test can do that - there is none.